In a move only they’d have the balls to manage, The Daily Caller, the publication battling criticism over their coverage of Sen. Bob Menendez‘s (D-N.J.) alleged involvement with Dominican prostitutes, is having a party and inviting the hookers from the videotape.

Breitbart News‘ Matthew Boyle, the reporter who broke the original story while working for The Daily Caller, will be on hand with special voice gadgetry to conduct a test on whether the women he remembers interviewing by Skype are those in his midst.

No one from WaPo has been invited. However, they’ve hired Salon‘s Joan Walsh to sit in a dunking booth in a pale pink bikini while Editor-in-Chief Tucker Carlson throws softballs at the bulls-eye.

Beer, wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served along with tapas. Tequila will be on hand in case the women get thirsty.

Carlson had only one thing to say about the upcoming party… Read more

A networking event to mark a business partnership between two fiercely ideological magazines isn’t exactly a wild time. But it’s part of the job for some media professionals in D.C.

Even so, freelance journalist Murray Waas, in the dimly-lit setting shown here, believes that if you’re attending such an event, you shouldn’t be on your phone.

“What is the point of going out when you’re texting?” Waas said to National Review reporter Andrew Stiles Thursday night. Apparently unsure what to make of the unsolicited social commentary, Stiles awkwardly replied, “I don’t know. To look like you have something to do.”

Waas floated around the party, hosted by The Nation and National Review at the Mayflower Renaissance hotel, butting into conversations, preferring to talk directly into people’s ears despite being audible at a normal conversational distance.

The writer made a name for himself during the Bush (43) years, reporting on the White House and, in the early 1990s, reporting on the Gulf  War. He was even nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1993. Howard Kurtz, then a media critic for the Washington Post, wrote in 2006 that Waas was “getting his day in the sun.” Nowadays Waas updates his personal blog and freelances. He has written for the Los Angeles Times, The Hill, The Boston Globe, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic and Reuters, among others.

He’s been featured in a lengthy 2007 WCP piece by Erik Wemple and Jason Cherkis (in the least flattering way) and in a rebuttal by Matthew Yglesias at ThinkProgress (the most flattering way).

“He was one of the biggest creeps I’ve ever talked to, saying things like ‘I’m your friend, right? We’ve been talking for five minutes, [and] I’m your best friend here?’” one attendee at Thursday’s gathering remarked to FishbowlDC. “And he smelled like garlic and booze.”

Yum.

About 100 people showed up for the event, all wearing name tags. Among them was National Review‘s star Capitol Hill Editor Robert Costa. Read more

Erwin Gomez opened the doors of his Karma salon and spa last night to celebrate the Emerald Spring. This meant heavily made up Hu models, miniature cupcakes, Moet & Imperial champagne, and complimentary mini-manicures. Despite the biting temp, the point was to toast a new warmer season. Gomez, a whiz at eyebrows, opened his spa in late September.

He’s busy when it comes to making up the media. On Wednesday he made up Elle Editor-in-Chief Robbie Myers and his makeup jobs don’t come cheap — $200 a pop. “She’s brilliant and pretty and that helps because I don’t have to work so hard,” he said with a knowing laugh.

Gomez is all about discretion. At his spa, parading around in robes is a no-no. “I respect people’s privacy,” he said, explaining that all changing happens inside the treatment room and no one sees what anyone is getting done.

Speaking of which, it’s time for my mini-manicure. My manicurist takes one good look at my nails and asks if I go to one those “corner shops.” Uh oh. I say yes and she eyes me with a slight scolding and tells me I should come to her. She says she won’t cut my skin as opposed to my cuticle and she’ll only charge me 22 bucks. Time eases on and I’m getting a wonderful watermelon basil vodkatini scrub, which exfoliates my hands. She spends a few minutes raving about the Bourbon Bubbler, a pedicure for men and I contemplate which members of Washington’s media might consider it. NBC’s Chuck Todd? Soon she whips out a caramel-colored tube and slathers the faintest amount of illuminating cream on hands and arms followed by steaming hot towels. I slowly realize I’ve been glitter bombed. Nonetheless, the overall result is a perfect manicure, no chips, bubbles or skin imperfections.

Karma is all about pampering. Read more

Seems hard to imagine. Conservative journos hanging out with their liberal counterparts in a fancy party setting and not resorting to bullying or dumping drinks on one another? Because that went so well at CPAC.

But next week it’s set to happen as National Review and The Nation solidify their advertising marriage at a party at the infamous The Mayflower Hotel.

Late last year, the two publications agreed to join hands to create “Purple Network” to…

Read more

Wait. How did that happen so fast?

Mere hours had passed after the debut of CNN Jake Tapper’s The Lead, and already, Jeff Zucker was ecstatic. At a party for Tapper last night at the Sixth Engine, as reported by Politico‘s Patrick Gavin, CNN’s new President declared Tapper the face of the new CNN.

Zucker told the crowd, “I can tell you from the position that I was in, the prospect of Jake Tapper being the face of the new CNN had me more excited than anything, and I can tell you after today, I know it was absolutely the right thing. …I couldn’t hope for more than for Jake and his team to take CNN into our next place, into our next century.”

We can only imagine how Wolf and John (King) are feeling right now.

And wait…maybe Tapper gets that interview with WaPo‘s Bob Woodward after all. After saying this week that he didn’t understand how a reporter could receive a nasty call from the White House and then get on TV and complain about it, Woodward was among the guests at the party.

See the full story.

At last night’s launch of The Internet Association, the turnout was cooler than one might think for such a geeky subject matter.

Hot spots at the party included the sushi table and the video graffiti wall, where you could insert yourself via green screen into the White House and the Capitol and then spray paint it with cans of virtual video spray paint. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) was seen getting her virtual spray paint on.

Michael Beckerman, the Association’s alluring founder, opened his remarks by frightening guests, saying that the next portion of the evening was going to be an hour-long powerpoint presentation detailing the history of the Internet since the 1800s. He was thankfully kidding. Speeches were kept to a bare minimum. Drinks included the Dial-Up, a twist on an Old Fashioned and the Uploaded, a fruity pomegranate martini.

See who attended the party publicized by BrandLinkDC.

Photo credits: Daniel Swartz. Read more

Organizers and observers are already semi-drooling over Michael Beckerman, CEO of The Internet Association, which is aiming to be the unified voice of the Internet economy .

The organization celebrates its launch tonight at Capitale on K Street. Handling the event is BrandLinkDC for those who wish to see him in the flesh. But be forewarned: He isn’t married, but has a serious girlfriend, so behave appropriately.

A former Capitol Hill rat, Beckerman was previously deputy staff director for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, policy director for Rep. Fred Upton and a legislative director for Congressman Mike Conaway

The Association’s members include Yahoo!, Amazon, TripAdvisor, Linkedin, Monster, airbnb, Expedia, ebay and more.

“The largest foe is just a misunderstanding of how the Internet works,” Beckerman, not just a pretty face, told Adweek in an interview late last year. “Individual companies are better suited in dealing with their users and customers than the government. Laws and regulations get written based on what we know today and aren’t mindful of innovations that might occur a year or five years from now.”

The party runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

When you feel like you’ve been spurned by the largest annual gathering of conservatives, host your own. That’s what Townhall and Breitbart News‘ Lisa De Pasquale, along with a few other former organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference, did for the second year in a row Monday night.

De Pasquale, a board member of the gay conservative group GOProud and director of CPAC from 2006-2011, doesn’t attend the conference anymore; not after other sponsors complained about GOProud’s official involvement in 2010 and 2011. She was dismissed by CPAC organizers. Instead, she convenes a happy hour in Washington for friends coming to town for CPAC. This year, she called it “Don’t Say C—!” It was hosted at PJ Clarke’s Sidecar bar.

Former assistants to De Pasquale help host the event and she says they also will not be going to CPAC. In attendance at the happy hour was GOProud’s Executive Director Jimmy LaSalvia, who told FishbowlDC that he also won’t be attending CPAC.

De Pasquale said she holds a lot of “grudges” with current CPAC organizers but… Read more

Eagle Publishing, parent company of Human Events, hosted its biennial Congressional Open House champagne celebration last night to welcome the 113th Congress (the Republican members at least).

Unfortunately, the party comes just a week after massive layoffs and the closure of Human Events‘ print product.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich attended with his wife Callista. Asked about Human Events, he said he was “very sad because it was historically a remarkable institution that had a big impact on American history going all the way back to 1944.” He added: “But I also recognize that we live in an age where you’re The Nation magazine or you’re Newsweek or a whole range of institutions — that the pressures of traditional print publication are enormous. And I think that Eagle had to take a serious look at reality in that sense.”

Regarding Conservative Political Action Conference organizers excluding New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) as a speaker at their event next week, while inviting Donald Trump, Gingrich said… Read more

Ex-Politico staffer Karin Tanabe revealed last night that there will be a sequel to her fictional book The List. “There’s got to be a sequel,” she said at a party celebrating the publication of her first book.

Though The List is a kind of fictional tell-all about Tanabe’s tenure at Politico, several current staffers still showed up to offer congratulations. Former employees showed up as well, including Kendra Marr Chaikind, who was fired from the publication in 2011.

“I wrote it really fast in secrecy,” Tanabe said in a short speech to the room of 70-ish attendees. She started it in the summer of 2011 while still working at Politico. “I was terrified,” she said.

Tanabe acknowledged other Politico “survivors” in the room (some of whom could be heard trading jokes about Politico) and said her book is about “paying homage” to reporters working in today’s new media environment. Of new media, she said, “It’s easier to make your career but also break your career.”

At one point, what appeared to be the cast of D.C. Housewives swooped in and had their photo snapped by the photographer. Among the women (and wearing all sorts of furs and leathers) were… Read more